The account of the meeting between Jesus and the Samaritan at the Well of Jacob is a lesson most people are reminded of often. Jesus sends his disciples to the town while he, alone goes to the well that the Samaritans used for their water. While the woman is oblivious to what is coming and the meeting, Jesus is already at the well.
The meeting at the well
When the woman arrives, Jesus asks for water and the conversation takes from there about the living water. The woman was indeed having all the things going on with her.
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
With five husbands and a situation, none of the husbands was hers but she was aware of something. Something that made Jesus send the disciples and wait at the well alone.
See, while Jesus would have carried his whole group of disciples and in that sense, the word would have spread all over Samaria that Jesus of Nazareth, the healer, the eye opener and the man who preached the good news is in town, Jesus went alone.
Was she the only one waiting in Samaria?
Was she the only person for the job?
The Samaritan Woman
Look, while it’s true Jesus would have gone with the delegation and people all over the region knew who they were. It’s true that Samaria was a place of confusion and thus no one wanted to be associated with it but Jesus saw a person who was waiting. While most people may have and are surely likely to have judged the woman with the five husbands and a situation. Jesus saw the desire and the need deep down in the woman’s heart.
What was she looking for?
She was looking for something. Something that she did not find in the first, second, third, fourth, or fifth husband and she wasn’t finding it in the man she was with right now.
She is aware of the Messiah and his coming, and in that sense, waiting She believed there is more in life, 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”. She believed and hoped in God, for salvation and everlasting life. And with that Jesus waited for one who chose to wait for her at the well.
The Story Itself
It is a beautiful story with many lessons. The best lesson is in waiting, searching, and seeking.
- What are you seeking?
- Is who you are waiting for, waiting for you?
- What is your heart’s desire?
- The one thing you’re searching for, what is it?
- Is there truth and fulfilment in it?
- Is there joy and wonder in it to make us want to run and tell everyone about it?
Jesus, You, and Me, at the Well.
While it is to put the focus on a woman and her behaviour, it is easy to miss the only thing that made Jesus send all the people away for a one-to-one session. Coming from a city of confusion, she was the only one. The only person in the whole Bible, that Jesus, being the Lord, Son of God, planned for and waited for.
How many times has Jesus waited for you and me?
How many times has he waited, kept us, and protected us from harm?
What about the times we were in trouble, believing with all there was? Promised to never go back again if he pulled us through?
Many times. There have surely been many for me, that I can not count. Got myself in situations again and again, hoping he would come through to save me, and he did. The only BUT is, I never kept my word in the oath and promises I made about never going back again. A cycle of madness.
How would it make you feel if you were the one waiting?
The Answer is Found Outside Town, at the Well.
The woman hears the message. The answer to the one quest she was seeking. The emptiness within her was filled and she went back to her people. She has met the Messiah, the Lord. She tells her people what has happened and people believe.
Why would people believe her?
Why did he not do the same in the cities, just pick a person and send him out to the whole city?
Was no one seeking, waiting, or searching there?
The only persons we are told who were waiting were Anna and Simeon at the temple, praying and fasting daily until Jesus was born. And when he was brought to the temple, Simeon asked for a rest for he had seen the salvation of the Lord.
I believe this because she has been through a life that no one could explain away except the maker of it. The only person who could make sure she lives until she gets the right meaning of all of it. And when she gets it, her life changes. Only God can do that, only a saviour can change that, and only a maker can influence that. And with searching, seeking, and waiting, she was the right one for the Job.
Can you and I leave the city of comforts and confusion and go outside?
Can we put everything else aside and go to the well?
Someone is waiting. Jesus is still waiting at the well. You’re the one he has been waiting for.
Discover more from Yours, Karah
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